Oatmeal, Cranberry, and White Chocolate Cookies (Gluten-Free)

I’m not sure anyone loves cookies as much as The Artist does! These oatmeal, cranberry and white chocolate cookies are some of the best I’ve made. They would make a lovely hostess or thank you gift for friends.

These cookies have the perfect chewiness from the oats, balanced by cranberries for a touch of tartness, and the white chocolate provides a rich sweetness. Together they are a winning combination, one that The Artist is currently swooning over. 🙂

You can skip the browned butter step, but I urge you to give it a try. I’ve used it in many other recipes and love it. It adds a delightful nutty undertone while keeping the cookies nut-free.

Luscious white chocolate from Guittard. So good you may eat them before they get chopped and added to the cookies!

While you can mix these by hand, using a heavy-duty mixer works best with heavy doughs like these cookies. It handles the mixing with ease and takes just a couple minutes saving you a lot of arm strength.

How to make Oatmeal, Cranberry, and White Chocolate Cookies

Brown the butter

Mix in the sugars, eggs, vanilla, and the dry ingredients

Mix in the oatmeal

Stir in the white chocolate and cranberries

Scoop the dough into balls and place on baking sheets.

Bake the cookies and enjoy!

PRO Tip:

Always use a light-colored saucepan (not a dark interior) to brown butter so you can see the changes in color as they happen. You are browning the milk solids in the butter and the browning can move quickly from lovely to burned and bitter. Always watch it closely and pull the pan off the heat a little before it is fully browned, allowing the residual heat to finish the browning.

Kitchen Tools I Use to Make This Recipe

I hope you make these White Chocolate, Cranberry, Oatmeal Cookies and love them as much as we do. Happy Chocolate Monday!

Jane’s Tips and Hints:

If you use parchment paper to line your baking sheets, you can use the same sheet for batch after batch of these cookies. I used two baking sheets, alternating them in the oven which gave them time to cool off between bakings. And I used the same two sheets of parchment for the entire batch of cookies!

Gluten-Free Tips:

Using agluten-free flour blendin place of the all-purpose flour and gluten-free oats for regular oats, are the only two adjustments I made. A very simple swap-out and you have cookies the whole family will love!

Yield: 42 cookies

Oatmeal, Cranberry, and White Chocolate Cookies (Gluten-Free)

These cookies have the perfect chewiness from the oats, balanced by cranberries for a touch of tartness, and the white chocolate provides a rich sweetness. Together they are a winning combination.

Prep Time20 minutes

Cook Time15 minutes

Total Time35 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks, 8 oz) butter, cut into cubes

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla paste or vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups (180g) all-purpose flour, or gluten-free flour blend

1 tsp baking soda

Pinch kosher salt

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (gluten-free if needed)

2 tbsp water or more vanilla if you prefer

1 cup white chocolate chips

2 cups dried sweetened cranberries

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or Silpats.

Brown the Butter: Place the butter in a heavy 2 or 3-quart saucepan with a light interior so you can see the color of the butter as it changes. Over medium heat, melt the butter, swirling occasionally. It will foam up and then the foam will subside. Whisk or stir frequently to watch for the first signs of browning. The milk solids will start to deepen in color and the butter will begin to smell nutty. When most of the solids are caramel colored, remove the pan from the heat. The residual heat will finish browning it. Watch carefully, it only takes a second for it to change from perfectly browned to burned and bitter. Pour into the bowl of your stand mixer and set aside to cool slightly.

Make the Cookie Dough: Add both sugars to the melted butter and beat on medium high speed for about 3 minutes, until wellblended. It will look a sandy and clumpy, and you can comfortably hold your hand on the bottom of the bowl. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as well as the beater blade(s). With the mixer on low, add the eggs and vanilla. Beat for three more minutes on medium speed until lightened in color and creamy.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Add 1/2 the flour mixture to the butter and egg mixture. Carefully beat it in. Scrape the bowl and beater(s). Add remaining flour mixture and beat just until there are no more white streaks and batter is smooth. Stir in water and beat until fully incorporated and smooth. Scrape the bowl and beater(s) again. Mix in the oatmeal. Stir in the white chocolate chips and the cranberries. You can make the dough to this point up to a day or two in advance and store, covered, in the refrigerator.

Portion out heaping tablespoons of cookie dough and place them about 2 inches apart. Press the tops to flatten slightly.

Bake the Cookies: Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until they are just brown around the edges and still soft in the center. If you like a crispier cookie, bake them 15 to 17 minutes.

Take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool for 2 or 3 minutes on the baking sheet. They will firm up as they cool. Carefully transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. When completely cooled, store in an airtight container.

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Originally posted in 2016 and updated in 2019

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